The district overseer said that he was visiting with a man at the door and he read some books from the society and that they were college level quality. He said that we were getting thousands of dollars worth of education for free and come to find out this man had been the HEAD MAN AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY.
A head man at Oxford who is no longer at Oxford?I wonder why? I can think of several possibilities. I like the poost that said head man? more like a straw man. Good point!
The earlier detailed account of the 2004-2005 circuit assembly showed me how far I've come and how way back in the mists of time the JWs still are. Noting in the programme sounded new.
I can still recall the urgent and ever increasingly urgent talks we got as 1975 approached. Even my poor old JW grandfather said in the lead up to 1975 that he had never heard such urgency in the Watchtower since WW2. It will be coming up to the 30th anniversary of his death in 2006. We're still here and at least some of us are still listening to the same old crap. But it's good to see the robust cricitcal response to the utterly unchanged nonsense emanating from the platform.
Wel i beleeve for won in whut the bruvver sayed becuz I gots me a colleg edumkation n ever thing from the Ewake! maggerzine in i kin speel. i wurzed raize in it.
Hey fancy that!!! I wus rayzed in it tooo country gurl,
Got me diplomar from the Watchtower Bible and Trap Society in the '70's, left the troof in the '80's and done me post graduwait studys in the 90's use'n old popular mechanics and playboy magazieens.
Here is a source for the "welcome to the wonderful world of AIDS" urban legend:
The subject of AIDS has become more solemn, and the lore reflects this shift in tone. The following straight legend is from USA Today:
Wednesday night [22 October 1986], novelist Jackie Collins (Hollywood Husbands), ever the chronicler of sexual adventure, shared what she said was a true story on Joan Rivers' show.
A married Hollywood husband picked up a beautiful woman at a bar. They enjoyed a night of passion at a good hotel; in the morning he rolled over to find a sweet thank-you note. Class, he thought, real class. Then he walked into the bathroom and found, scrawled on the mirror in lipstick, "Welcome to the wonderful world of AIDS."
Not knowing if the woman had been kidding or not, he didn't dare have sexual relations with his wife, and it could be a long time before he'd know whether he had become an AIDS victim ("AIDS" 1986:2D).
This legend was widespread by early December 1986. In one version, the man went the next morning to be tested for AIDS and learned he did not have the disease. This variant makes it clear that people are still largely uneducated about AIDS: there is no test for AIDS per se, and it can take six months or more for the body to produce detectable antibodies to the virus.
Other religions are also more than willing to use urban legends for their own purposes. Notice this comment:
Several years ago, a virgin young lady was on spring break in our state. She kept herself pure all through high school, but found herself in a hotel room with a stranger giving up her purity. He gave her a wrapped gift to be opened after they parted. She opened it to find a miniature casket with a note: "Welcome to the wonderful world of AIDS." (http://www.holybiblesays.org/articles/presex.htm)
Their were 2 sisters who after getting all the regular pioneer hours in thought they would go on a relaxing cruise. So they are on the ship having a great time and at the end of one of the days one sister retired early and the other sister thought that she might have a drink and listen to the calypso band. Well this really nice guy approached her and started visiting with her and he was just so nice. He bought her a couple more drinks and they continued to visit. Well they ended up dancing a few songs just really having a great time. Well when it time for bed our dear sister didnt go back to her room. She spent the night with this man she had met. Well after the alcohol wore off the guilt set in. The remaining day or so on the ship was very difficult for her on the ship. Well they pack all their bags and they are fixing to disembark the ship when this nice guy she had met yelled out for her saying "Wait I want to give you something for you to remember our nice time on the ship together." He gave her a little box with wrapping paper on it and told her not to open it until they got home. By the time she got on the plane for home she just couldnt take it anymore she just had to open it right then to see what it was. In the box their was a little coffin with a note in it that said "WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF AIDS" (the whole audience gasped for air!) The talk was about remaining clean and obedience to the organization.
No offense...but the part that surprised me was that 2 regular pioneers could afford to go on a cruise, along with the plane tickets they purchased....
"No offense...but the part that surprised me was that 2 regular pioneers could afford to go on a cruise, along with the plane tickets they purchased...."
Yeah, that got me too.
The moral of the story brothers... Don't JUST put in your minimum hours! Keep on preaching! You can never do enough! Don't have one second of fun! The end is SO close! blah, blah, blah
Preston- they actually used that urban legend from the stage? This is unbelieveable... don't they have editors. When I was on assembley parts, crap like this was usually screened for validity first. Shock and awe!
